The invention relates generally to a portal for on-line management of a software implementation project and, more particularly, to a portal established between a software installer and a client to facilitate set-up, configuration, maintenance and support of software.
Software is often developed and customized for use in a specific corporate environment. Since many firms do not have the resources to generate their own customized software, such companies outsource software development. At the initial stage of development, skilled experts interview a client to identify their needs and determine how to develop the product based on the identified needs.
After the software is developed in accordance with the client's specifications, the developer may provide additional services to implement and configure the software. The software company may identify and order any hardware that is necessary to provide client-side support of the software (e.g., a customized server). A representative of the software firm (e.g., a field engineer or implementation consultant) may be required to visit the client's physical site to install the software and configure any additional hardware required to support the software. The field engineer may also need to test the system and provide training before the software can be used for its intended purposes. As a result, the field engineer may be required to return to the client's physical site numerous times before the software system is operating properly.
The conventional process of implementing and configuring software is both time and cost inefficient. Software implementation may be delayed by any number of reasons due to the nature of any customized process. Such reasons may include: miscommunication between different software company representatives and the client, wrongly configured hardware, changed specifications after development has been initiated, or client employees unable to attend scheduled training sessions. In addition, costs may be increased due to the large number of experts that are required to complete the development, installation, testing and training processes. Accordingly, what is needed is an improved method for implementing customized software that reduces costs and that shortens the time required to implement, configure and support a complete software product.